Using Data in Research

Library Data Archive
Fall Quarter 2017

Today's Topics

UCLA Library Data Archives
The role of data in your research
How to search for and acess data for research
Resources, tools and support available to students at UCLA
Publishing and Data Management Plans

UCLA Library Data Archives

(formally the Social Science Data Archive)

On the UCLA campus since 1961 About the Data Archive
Available to all UCLA faculty and students
Holdings include public opinion polls, census data, crime stats, political and social behavior, etc.

illustration: Rolfe Hall

https://www.library.ucla.edu/location/social-science-data-archive

Data Archive: Our services

Reference: assist students to find and use data
Data Management Plans
Metadata
Provide training: Software/Library carpentry / Software Carpentry R-language
Host events and lectures: Data Archive News and Upcoming Events

Role of Data in Research

illustration: role of data in resaerch

Finding Out About Data Sources

UCLA Library Data Archive
Colleagues
Public media (newspapers, news)
Social media (twitter, etc)
Scholarly literature
Government reports and documents
Archives and project websites
Codebooks, questionnaires
Exploration of datasets

Search Strategies and Defining Your Research

General to specific; broad to narrow
Names of investigators; names of studies
Studies described in literature, news and websites

illustration: define your research

How do I know this study useful?

Raw data are not eye-readable
To decipher data you will use Questionnaires and Codebooks

illustration: codebook #1

What is a Questionnaire?

A questionnaire is a research instrument consisting of a series of questions and other prompts for the purpose of gathering information from respondents.
Questionnaires cover separate topics such as:
- Preferences (e.g. political party)
- Behaviors (e.g. food consumption)
- Facts (e.g. gender)
Questionnaires can include indexes or scales:
- Latent traits (e.g. personality traits)
- Attitudes (e.g. towards immigration)
- An index (e.g. Social Economic Status)

Questionnaire: ABC New Poll

illustration: Questionnaire ABC New Poll

What is a Codebook?

An overview of the study or dataset
Variable names and descriptions
Column locations (mostly this is for raw data)

May also include:

Test of questions if the data comes from a survey
Example of the Questionnaire
Detail on who responded to the survey

Codebook: General Social Survey

illustration: codebook #2

Codebook and Raw Data

ICPSR Data Site

Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research http://www.icpsr.umich.edu

illustration: ICPSR

ICPSR: Find Data

http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/ICPSR
illustration: ICPSR Find Data

ICPSR: Register to Access Data

illustration: ICPSR Register

ICPSR: Search by Topics

illustration: ICPSR Search by Topics

ICPSR: Search for and Compare Variables

illustration: ICPSR Search for and Compare Variables

ICPSR: Compare Variables

illustration: ICPSR Compare Variables

ICPSR: Study Page and Data

illustration: ICPSR Study Page and Data#1

ICPSR: Reading About Data

ICPSR: Publications linked to Data

illustration: ICPSR Publications linked to Data

ICPSR: Publications Linked to Data

illustration: ICPSR Publications Linked to Data

Data Sources

ICPSR: http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/ICPSR/
UCLA Library Data Archive Catalog: https://dataverse.harvard.edu/dataverse/ssda_ucla
Government Sites, Census Data: https://www.census.gov/
IPUMS (Integrated Public Use Microdata Series): https://www.ipums.org/
Public Policy Institute of CA: www.ppic.org
NBER (National Bureau of Economic Research): http://www.nber.org/data/
CDC/NCHS (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/National Center for Health Statistics): https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/surveys.htm
Pew Research Center: http://www.pewresearch.org/
Data.gov: https://www.data.gov/

Data Management Plans

What is a Data Management Plans
Why do I need this?
What tools are available to help?

What is a Data Management Plan?

A data management plan is a document that describes what you will do with your data during your research and after you complete your research.

Why do you need this?

Funding Agencies
Publishing https://dataden.library.ucla.edu/jspui/ ORCID:https://orcid.org/
Sharing and Archiving Data
Regardless of the requirements, good data management is an essential skill for researchers.

Getting Help with Data Management Plans

Data Archive
ICPSR

Questions?

illustration: Questions

Problems ?

The Data Archive is here to help

1120-H Rolfe
ucla-data-archive@googlegroups.com
310-825-0716

Tim Dennis, Director of the Data Archive
Jamie Jamison, Archive Staff